Hi,

if all goes “as planned”, I’ll be moving with the family (wife+2 kids) sometime in February/March 2011 near Seville.
I’m looking for somebody that could give me some tips/suggestions.
Specifically:
1) Schools: how does school work in Spain? Pubic? Private? Are public schools good -normally? Can you choose which school to go to or would you have to go, necessarily, to the one in your neighborhood?
2) Healthcare: if I move, I have a job there, so I should be OK ... but, how’s the quality of healthcare in spain? Do you have loong waiting lists before being able to get an appointment with a regular doctor?
3) I’ve been to spain before as a tourist and found most prices comparable, if not lower, than northern Europe, however ... living there might be different.
4) Crime: you always hear horror-stories when you go in touristic places. Anyone knows how is Seville? Are t here off-limit areas?
5) Taxes: Spain is in the news these days for the “austerity” packages. How “bad” is the situation really?

Thanks.
Just looking for some suggestions

1. Schools are supposed to be better in Andaluc?a as in other places of Spain, but I cannot guaranty this. We live in the province of Valencia/Alicante near Benidorm and here schools are VERY bad.

2. Heath care does also depends on the location, but the state health care is normally very slow and doctors have very little time for each patient. Also they are underpaid, which is not very good for motivation. It is avisable to have a private health insurance. They are normally very good and not that expensive.

3. Crime is probably not much worst as in other places. Even in my own country, which was considered as safe and secure, some years ago, things have changed dramatically. We never had problems with this in Spain -knock on wood 😊 -

4. We are from Switzerland, so cost of living is definitely cheaper here, but taxes are very high! If you live here more then 183 days a year, you will have to pay tax on your worldwide income. It goes very fast up to 43%!

looking_for_suggestions - 21 November 2010 02:26 AM

Hi,

if all goes “as planned”, I’ll be moving with the family (wife+2 kids) sometime in February/March 2011 near Seville.
I’m looking for somebody that could give me some tips/suggestions.
Specifically:
1) Schools: how does school work in Spain? Pubic? Private? Are public schools good -normally? Can you choose which school to go to or would you have to go, necessarily, to the one in your neighborhood?
2) Healthcare: if I move, I have a job there, so I should be OK ... but, how’s the quality of healthcare in spain? Do you have loong waiting lists before being able to get an appointment with a regular doctor?
3) I’ve been to spain before as a tourist and found most prices comparable, if not lower, than northern Europe, however ... living there might be different.
4) Crime: you always hear horror-stories when you go in touristic places. Anyone knows how is Seville? Are t here off-limit areas?
5) Taxes: Spain is in the news these days for the “austerity” packages. How “bad” is the situation really?

Thanks.
Just looking for some suggestions

We live near Sevilla, it is a lovely area, where abouts are you going to be living? I might be able to help you on areas. The towns outside Sevilla are not really touristy, and there are a few expats mingled around. I don’t know much about schooling, but the British kids in our village seem to be doing fine, I think the fact that the primary school only has about 20 children in it helped as they got a lot of attention.

Hello,
and thank you for your answers.
Well, I don’t know where I would be living yet, but work would be in Sevilla (outer part of the city, but “in” the city.
I would not mind living in a small town nearby (looking at Google map: Santiponce, Camas, ...): I am used to relatively quiet neighborhoods and the night life of the city is ... well, not that attractive when you have two young kids to take care of.
Private insurance would probably be provided by the office, so I’m not too worried about that.
Looking through this site I see lots of threads about air conditioning: I guess summer time it gets really hot there ...
I like the Spanish culture/mentality (at least the one I have experienced during the holidays ... which is the classic stereotype: “slow”, like to party, ...).
I found an online website for electronics (Fnec.es) and found it rather expensive (at least compared to amazon.co.uk ... which ships to Spain too, as far as I know) which was a bit surprising since I heard that cost of living is rather low in Spain.
Anyway, as you can imagine, my main worries are:
- my two kids. Will the school be OK? Will they grow in a “safe” environment?
- the family overall: will I be able to maintain it on my salary? It’s nearly impossible to compare salaries across countries because of differences in cost of living.

Anyway, thanks again for your suggestions 😊

Electrical goods and telecommunications are very expensive in Spain. I think if you take everything into consideration the cost of living is equal to the UK. If your children are young they will settle into Spanish school fine and soon become fluent. We have air conditioning and we don’t really use it, you soon become acclimatizes!! Are you buying a property or renting? There are some great villages close to Seville and for the children this would probably help them integrate quicker than in a big city!
Go for it as long as you have work!

caz

Hi there,

I saw that you’re interested in living in the outskirts of Seville. If you’re still looking for accomodation, you might be interested to know that I have a flat in San Juan de Aznalfarache which I urgently need to rent. It’s a 3 bedroom flat in a quiet housing estate near the river, and you’d be into the centre in 10 mins.

I?m renting it long-term for 550 EUR/month. It has a swimming pool and air conditioning, it?s south-facing, has a great balcony with amazing views, and it?s 95 square metres in size. It?s right next to the metro and across the road from a bus stop. The housing estate is near the river and the area is quiet.
I?ve attached a few photos (bear in mind that the photos were taken on a rainy day in January and don?t do the place justice!).
You can also check it out on loquo.com:
http://sevilla.loquo.com/ps/vivienda/particular/piso-95m-con-piscina-muy-luminoso-a-100m-del-metro/508707

If you?re interested or know anyone who might be , please give me a call on 0034 657873497 or email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Thanks a lot!

Jack